


Honoring a sacrifice

by Bl4ckHunter



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Angst, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23737069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl4ckHunter/pseuds/Bl4ckHunter
Summary: One-shot story. After the Crisis, Barry and Sara attempt to honor Oliver, while finding newfound clarity.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	Honoring a sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I enjoyed the old Diggle back in The Flash 6x10, the Arrow series finale proved that he has no right to call himself Oliver's brother. So, obviously, someone else hands over to Barry the mask he had made to Oliver and goes onto a little trip to Lian Yu.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Barry was in his apartment, readjusting to the changes in Earth Prime until he heard the doorbell. Barry approached the door and smiled to see an old friend. "Sara."

"Hey, Barry." Sara smiled back, holding in her hand a case.

"What brings you here?" Barry asked as he let her in.

"Ollie's last will was read yesterday and… he wanted me to bring you this. I was on my way here to visit mom anyway." Sara said as she put the case on the desk and opened it and Barry widened his eyes as he looked at the contents of it.

"It's Oliver's mask. The one I made him when we first met." Barry said, picking up the mask.

"I guess he wanted you to have a memory of him. Something close to you both." Sara said as Barry took a closer look.

"Sara. You see this?" Barry asked.

"I don't know. It's a smudge." Sara said before it hit her. "Ollie wouldn't be this sloppy regarding his things. Do you think…"

"…that he's leaving us a message?" Barry asked. "It's possible."

An hour later, Barry was in superspeed analyzing the mask using the tools he had in his apartment as Sara stared. "Barry, I can't believe I'm telling this to you of all people but… I think you need to…" Barry sped past her, picking some papers and reading them on the desk as her hair blew in front of her face. "…slow down a bit."

"Sara, there's a reason Ollie wanted you to bring me the mask." Barry noted.

"Barry…" Sara sighed. "I'm just saying, what are we even looking for? For all we know, on that mask is just some stain Felicity had forgotten to clean—" She stopped, when the laptop beeped.

"There's sediment traces on the mask usually found on islands in North China Sea." Barry read. "Like Lian Yu."

"Like Lian Yu." Sara said at the same time and Barry nodded. "Look, Barry, Ollie used that mask in many places and…" She trailed off, when she took a closer look at the results. "Wait. The chemical compound. I've seen this before."

Barry took a closer look at the new chemical found on the mask. "Yeah. It looks like… the Mirakuru."

"The Mirakuru." Sara said at the same time. "Ollie and I suspected that there might be some serum left on the island or on Amazo."

"And we don't even know what the state of Lian Yu is post-Crisis." Barry nodded. "If the Mirakuru is out there, maybe this is why Oliver wanted you to send me that mask."

"If the Mirakuru is still on the island, we need to find it before someone creates another army of Deathstrokes." Sara said.

* * *

After a run on Lian Yu, Sara found the wreckage of Amazo and found a box of Mirakuru before entering the A.R.G.U.S. prison with Barry. "I can't believe these blighted things are on this new Earth too." Sara muttered.

"You think there's Mirakuru in here?" Barry asked.

"If it is, we need to burn it. To ashes." Sara said, not wanting to relive the nightmare and she opened the box… only to reveal that it's empty, much to their surprise. "What…"

"No, no, this can't be right." Barry took a closer look. "I… I searched the whole island a dozen times."

"Barry, I don't think that the mask was a warning. It's what Oliver intended for it to be. A gift to you." Sara realized as she examined Oliver's mask.

Barry shook his head, looking around. "No, no, we're missing something."

"Barry—" Sara started.

"Someone must've found the Mirakuru first, we need to call Lyla, DEO, we can't let someone create another Deathstroke, we need to finish what Oliver—"

"Barry!" Sara raised her voice and Barry stopped as she held his shoulder. "Just… stop, OK? I know how you're feeling but there's no more Mirakuru. This is grief talking. I've been there before. With Darhk and Laurel and Diaz and Dad."

"No, no, there's a reason why it was on Oliver's mask." Barry insisted.

Sara sighed. "Ollie told me that he once returned here with Thea and had a run-in with Slade, before they locked him up again. Maybe that's how the Mirakuru got on that mask. You're chasing ghosts, Barry. This…" She looked around. "This is grief. Not Ollie's message. I'm sorry, Barry. As hard as it may be to believe, we need to accept that Ollie's gone. Come on. There's something I need to show you."

She took a breath before they went out as Sara led him to Robert's, Shado's, Yao Fei's and Taiana's graves. "You know what this is?" Sara asked and Barry nodded. "The last word Ollie's dad told him before he killed himself was, 'Survive.' And that's what you and I need to do. I know how you feel." She turned to him. "You're chasing a mission after a mission after a mission after losing someone you care about. Just like I've tried to kill Darhk after he killed Laurel but failed many times. But… nothing you can do, is gonna bring him back. Ollie gave up his life so that we could live ours. Don't waste them on chasing ghosts, Barry. Trust me. It never ends well. The best way we can honor him, is to move on. He built this new life for us. So let's enjoy it."

Barry looked at the mask. "I made this for Oliver, so that he'd know what he stands for and what is he fighting for."

"And he sacrificed himself so that we could continue our fights. And the best way to honor Ollie is to move on and fight like hell for the people we love. Just like he did for us. So, no more chasing ghosts, Barry, OK? Stop living in the past and focus on the present again." Sara held Barry's shoulder and he nodded after a moment. "Come on, let's go home."

They walked back towards an A.R.G.U.S. boat docked at the shore as they sailed away from Lian Yu.

**Author's Note:**

> As much as it nice it was to see the old Diggle back in the aftermath of Crisis, when he went to see Barry and give him the mask Barry had made to Oliver in 2x09, Arrow finale showed that Diggle is no longer his brother. Actually, there are a lot of occassions where Diggle was far from Oliver's brother. Season 4 - not getting over Oliver kidnapping Lyla, when undercover, when as a soldier he should understand, or Diggle's blind spot towards Andy that got Laurel killed. Season 6 - Diggle whining about not getting back the role of the Green Arrow and his and Oliver's differences of opinions on leadership, Diggle accusing Oliver of getting everyone around him killed, when Diggle would rather save a ruthless vigilante with no regards towards collateral damage or civilians caught into crossfire than thousands of innocents and don't get me started on Diggle in series finale.
> 
> Sara would make sense to come to Barry and then with him, considering the Crisis, since they both mourned Oliver together and I'm a bit disappointed that neither Lance sisters interacted more with Team Flash.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


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